Abstract
This article examines the history of housing reconstruction in postwar Japan, that is, the construction of urban residential housing following Japan’s defeat in World War II, providing a historical account of the reconstruction of war-damaged housing from the perspective of the creation and distribution of private residential space under Japan’s postwar regulatory regimes. Methodologically, rather than examining the “postwar housing shortage” using the framework of the prewar, peacetime “housing shortage”, this article argues that the postwar housing situation was an historically unique situation different from the preceding and subsequent eras. The article systematically examines the process under which Japan’s regulatory regime created and distributed non-commercial, residential housing, during a period when various controls blocked the formation of a system based on commercial supply. It assesses this process in terms of the destruction of the supply structure and changes in the ownership structure.
In terms of the creation of non-commercial, residential housing, the article shows how government-controlled materials, capital and residential land were used. Finally the article describes the role of nepotism in the distribution of non-commercial, residential housing, on a rental basis to all levels of society.
This chapter is a translation of an article that originally appeared in Shakai Keizai Shigaku 79(2) (August 2013), pp. 47–68.
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Notes
- 1.
In general, the term ‘recovery’ carries the strong connotation of ‘reconstruction.’ Therefore, the image of ‘recovery’ evoked by the terms ‘reconstruction’ and ‘living space’ is that of new housing construction. Indeed, the late 1940s, which is the subject of this study, was a period of construction. During the 5 years between 1945 and 1949, about 2 million houses were built through self-funded construction activities by those in the private sector, even allowing for the small differences that arise depending on which statistical estimation methods are used. Viewed simply in terms of the average number of houses built annually, the construction pace in this period was much higher than in the peacetime pre-war (about 0.3 million houses a year), although the quality of the houses was much poorer. However, this simple basis is not adequate for comparing housing construction under the government’s post-war controls with the peacetime housing supply, which responded to effective demand through market mechanisms. Two core elements operated in the construction of urban space during peacetime: the market mechanism and government policy (including urban development policy and housing policy). In the war-damaged cities of the late 1940s, the market mechanism was almost wholly dysfunctional due to government controls, on the one hand, while government interventions in construction remained limited, on the other. Therefore, in order to understand post-war reconstruction from the point of view of ‘living spaces,’ it is important to investigate empirically the creation and distribution of the various kinds of ‘living spaces’ that were shaped by government controls.
- 2.
A few terms used here in relation to ‘living spaces’ need first to be defined. A ‘house’ is a building for a household, or households, to inhabit on a constant basis. In the case of the post-war period, a ‘house’ usually designates the type of dwelling that accommodated a single household. (For instance, a detached house or a unit in a multiple-dwelling complex.) It should be noted in this regard that, in pre-war cities, a house was not necessarily inhabited just by a single household. The term, ‘living space,’ on the other hand, refers to all forms of space in which people actually dwelt. In this sense, demands for dwelling places were practically met in ‘living spaces.’ Therefore, ‘living spaces’ in this study include, apart from the ordinary dwelling places mentioned above: (1) facilities not originally constructed as dwellings (factories, shops, warehouses, schools, remodeled streetcars and so on); (2) non-houses (such as air-raid shelters and provisional huts ); and (3) rented rooms, which were living spaces newly created by dividing up a house’s original living space. In short, the notion of ‘house’ emphasizes the physical aspect of the entity in relation to the original purpose of the building. By contrast, ‘living space’ is a notion that is more related to the act of living and the use of the space for living purposes.
- 3.
Ryūichi Narita stresses that an important perspective in urban history research is the notion of ‘the space in which people lived,’ as symbolizing people’s lives (Narita 2003). This study uses the term ‘living space,’ in this vein. Moreover, in consideration of the special historical situation of the period in question, the term ‘lived space’ is also used to emphasize this ‘lived’ aspect.
- 4.
In this study, the term ‘post-war control’ is used in a broad sense. It indicates any attempt by the government to place controls on the social and economic turmoil of the post-defeat period. Therefore, it includes not only the control on rents, construction and building materials, but also measures such as the Emergency Financial Measures Ordinance and the Act on Temporary Measures Concerning Land and House Lease in War-damaged Cities. This study thus uses the term ‘post-war control’ to indicate the whole set of institutional measures that shaped the creation and distribution of living spaces.
- 5.
Japan’s housing stock immediately after the end of the war is estimated to have been short by 4.2 million homes. Most of these losses were concentrated in war-damaged cities (Jūtaku Kin’yū Kōko 1960, p. 3).
- 6.
As of November 1941, rented houses accounted for 78.4% of total houses; owned houses, 20.1%; and issued houses, 1.5% (Kōsei-shō Jūtaku-kyoku 1942, p. 14).
- 7.
In fact, the ration tickets did not circulate smoothly from those demanding them through those distributing them to those issuing them. According to estimates by the Economic Stability Agency, only 70% of ration tickets returned to the issuer (Saitō 1948, p. 182).
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Ono, H. (2017). Housing Reconstruction in War-Damaged Cities: The Creation and Distribution of Living Spaces in the Late 1940s Under Postwar Governmental Controls. In: Baba, S. (eds) Economic History of Cities and Housing. Monograph Series of the Socio-Economic History Society, Japan. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4097-9_2
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